http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041904131.htmlA recent poll puts McCain just five points ahead of J.D. Hayworth, a former congressman and radio talk show host who aspires to be Arizona's Samuel Adams. McCain operatives dispute that the race is this close, but they cannot dispute that McCain is running in a political environment in which absolutely anything could happen to an incumbent.
Hayworth's 12 years representing parts of the Phoenix suburbs have been described by his former colleague Dick Armey as a "fairly short, undistinguished congressional career." But Hayworth attracted national attention after an epiphany of sorts in 2005. Though he had previously sponsored legislation to create a guest-worker program,
Hayworth became a militant foe of Mexican immigration. Not just illegal immigration. Hayworth proposed a moratorium on legal immigration from Mexico. He declared an intention not merely to secure the border but also to "stand up for our culture" -- which implies that Mexicans adulterate American culture. Hayworth warned of activists who would create an Aztec state on the ruins of American sovereignty in the Southwest. He voted against an anti-immigrant measure -- which, among other provisions, prohibited religious charities from aiding illegal immigrants -- because he thought the legislation was too soft.
Tea Party leaders have been understandably reluctant to endorse a candidate likely to embarrass any movement elastic enough to include Hayworth. Both Rep. Michele Bachmann and Sen. Jim DeMint have declared themselves officially neutral in the Arizona Republican primary. Sarah Palin has campaigned for McCain. This skepticism is compounded by Hayworth's congressional record, which puts him in a select group among would-be Tea Party heroes. He is, I would bet, the only Tea Party candidate with a history of hosting fundraisers in lobbyist Jack Abramoff's sports skyboxes.
How many other Tea Party revolutionaries have also been enthusiastic legislative earmarkers, or voted for the Medicare prescription drug benefit, or supported the 2005 highway bill, which included the "bridge to nowhere"? Hayworth symbolizes the worst excesses of the Tea Party movement, without having displayed any of its redeeming fiscal virtues while in office. His candidacy presents a test.
If the movement embraces politicians such as Hayworth, it will not only prove itself extreme; it will prove itself gullible.
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